Tomnorm

Two World Cruises with Cunard. Both had many people with severe coughs(Cunard Cough?) Probably due to sailing from the UK in January with an older age group

Is it a coincidence that the original report was issued on April 1?

I have often noticed this puzzling issue :confused: .

 

I sometimes wonder if there are two Cunard liners called Queen Mary 2 and I've always been allocated the good one :) .

 

Or is it that some people only truly enjoy themselves, or know they are still alive, if they can make a huge fuss on board and then have a good old moan about the trip after it is over, "and another thing"...

 

If everything is perfect, they invent an issue or three, just to make the cruise complete. Then they know they're having a good time.

 

Some people are never happier than when they are complaining. You could give them $1,000,000 in $50 bills and they'd moan because they'd have preferred it in $20s "and then we had all these $50 bills to use up"...

This is so true! We seem to meet similar complainers on all of our trips.

I believe the Australians call them "wringing? Brits"

On the recent QV 2014 World Cruise access to the Chart Room was restricted to full World Cruise passengers until the evenings.

Not a satisfactory situation for those of us who prefer the QV for this venue

Sorry, my stupid fingers on the smartphone hit the send button.

 

Last year no AC, this year AC and seat belts in the bus. So is life and I can't se a reason for a :mad: comment. Some passengers have not been satisfied when visiting Fortaleza a few days ago. Well, they might find that Brasil is not California...

Fortaleza is like San Diego and Tiajuana combined, the problem was that the Cunard tour took us to the TJ beach!

Other ports on the way to Rio would have been better choices

Rio next, then Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

Looking forward to Rio, had a great visit last time.

Life on board is a pleasure, as usual

Just returned to the ship after the worst land tour ever. We have not met a single satisfied person. Cunard should spend more time researching ports and tour operators before signing up.

Visitors for the World Cup should beware

Saw the Queen Victoria in port when my cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette arrived in Ft Lauderdale. We did early walk off at the port and there were exactly 2 agents checking passports on departing guests. The crew from the ship helping guests told us we did the right thing as the rest were going to be waiting in lines all day. They say the staff at the dock and immigration staff are in a work slow down to get more pay and more staffing. The agents were not using computers at all just looking at passports and asking how much money you were bringing back into the USA. We were about 25 people back in the line and it took us about 20 minutes to get passed through. The walk up to the baggage and check out area was over rough pavement outside the terminal and there was not a single chair or place to sit anywhere.

 

I did of course take pictures of Queen Victoria but they are just awful as I took them from the garage where my car was parked.

It took us 4 hrs in line before we could board! Now we know why

US citizens need a visa. You have to get it from tha Brazilian Consulate responsible for the area that you are resident of. Each Consulate has slightly different requirements and conditions. You should check on their web site. You should also check immediately with the visa service company that is recommended by CUNARD in the prevoyage booklet. The visa approval process is not quick and you may not be able to get one in time. Note that you will require to send in two passport photos with the application, you may also be able to take in the application by hand if you live near the consulate

I would suggest going to the Brazilian Consulate in person if you live in the San Francisco area. In fact, the S.F. Consulate does not accept applications by mail, so if you live within driving distance, you may be paying a service simply to walk-in in your place.

Instructions are here: http://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/SaoFrancisco/en-us/file/tourist.pdf

I imagine there is a backlog everywhere because of the upcoming World Cup and a rush/flood of applications right now because tickets were just released for games in the past week or so.

Unfortunately, the SF Consulate will not take walk-ins. They require an appointment made via computer and their computer system is down until early December. The back log will be even bigger.

Unless I can find a different approach I will have to cancel my cruise.

Anyone with ideas?

CIBT just asked us for additional documentation (bank statement) that is not required by the San Francisco consulate. Reason is that the SF consulate is experiencing "technical difficulties" and a large backlog. Thus our application package will be forwarded to some other consulate that normally handles a different geographic area and that does require proof of finances.

 

CIBT did indicate that our passports will be returned by the deadline we specified (Dec 20). Best advice is don't delay starting the process for your Brazil visa -- it could take longer than you think.

Could you supply the name of the person that was handling your account. We need visas by the end of December and also live in the San Francisco area.

Thanks

Tom